A local woman’s accusation that an off-duty Buncombe County Sheriff’s deputy threatened her in a case of road rage has sparked an internal affairs investigation. She has also sharply criticized the conduct of the Asheville Police Department, which responded to the call.

On July 9, Julie Brown, a Clyde resident, says she was driving home from work when a jeep cut her off at the intersection of Patton Avenue and New Leicester Highway. (Scroll to the bottom of the page to listen to the 911 calls of Brown and the deputy.)

“He just moved over. There was no turn signal or anything and I was already slowing down for the light, so I had to stand on my brakes — I honked my horn, big time, because it scared the heck out of me,” Brown told Xpress. “I came to a stop and he jumped out of his vehicle, came over to mine. I hit the door lock, and he was screaming ‘what are you going to do’ at me. He tried the door handle, he punched on the windows. I couldn’t look at it. I was afraid the glass would break. I reached for my phone and called the police.”

She said the man then left and got back in his vehicle. She continued down the road, calling 911. According to her, the man continued to follow.

Dispatchers told Brown to find a public place, and she turned her vehicle into the parking lot of a nearby Shoney’s restaurant, where she was met by Asheville police.

At roughly the same time, the man, an undercover narcotics sheriff’s deputy whose name is being withheld by the Sheriff’s Office, also called 911, saying that “I’ve got a vehicle here giving me the road rage, flipping me off. I don’t know what in the world’s her problem.”

The man adds that “I’m in my personal vehicle. I’ve got my family with me. She wants to act all stupid, so I want to show her how stupid she is when she finds out who I am.”

In the call, the deputy says that “I got over, I didn’t cut her off or nothing, and she gets right on my rear and she lays on the the horn. So I get out of the car to see what her problem is. She’s all cussing and raising Cain, so I’m like, I ain’t even going to deal with you, I’m just going to call.”

Later in the call, when the dispatcher says there aren’t any units nearby, the deputy replies “Well, she’s heading towards home. She lives in Clyde. So you can just cancel that. I’ll just get her tag number down and pay her a visit.”

The Buncombe Sheriff’s Office of Professional Standards is looking into the case, Sgt. Randy Smart confirmed, and the investigation is ongoing. Asked if the deputy getting Brown’s tag number and visiting her house would have been professional conduct, he replied “No, it’s not. I’m sure he was just rattled and wasn’t thinking clearly. She lives in Haywood County and we don’t have jurisdiction there.”

The deputy in question has a distinguished record, Smart said, and “has not had any investigations or complaints before.” He added that the deputy’s version of events varies from Brown’s and he has denied touching or striking her vehicle.

Brown denies she was making any gestures, “I was gripping the wheel white-knuckled,” she said, adding that the deputy was so close behind her “I could see him talking on the phone, I could see his wife in the car…. I’m still talking to 911, telling them I can see him turning around. He went really slowly by [the Shoney’s].”

The deputy’s vehicle left, and the police arrived.

“The first officer on the scene asked if I realized I had just called in on a cop — I thought he was kidding,” Brown said. “My next thing was: So what? This person did this, whether he’s a carpenter or a cop, it doesn’t make much of a difference. But apparently it does, because they did not pull him over, they talked to him, but they did not ask him to pull over. They didn’t do a sobriety test or anything else.”

She said that she wanted to press charges and asked “them to bring down a crew [and] dust the side of my truck, because there were no prints on my door handle except his [the deputy’s]. They said that wasn’t necessary, that I needed to take a deep breath, calm down and go home. I figured they were pulling him over, doing something on their end. They were doing nothing. This man was being a threat. How is that protecting the public? They did not do their job. It’s not my job to build a case against someone who attacked me.”

APD Chief Bill Hogan told Xpress that the officers declined to press charges or file an incident report “because they both called on each other, we were not there to witness it. We verified she was safe and advised her to take it up with the deputy’s employer. If she had a problem with his actions, his demeanor, that’s a matter for their professional standards to deal with.”

As for the request to get forensic evidence from her car, Hogan said that “we don’t do fingerprints for something like that. If he touched her car, so what, it doesn’t prove anything. Maybe if the glass were broken that would be a different story. I understand the public wants certain things done, but they don’t always understand the law.”

Hogan added that “speaking candidly, the unusual thing in all this is that she’s taken this to all the media, but my impression is she’s not cooperated much with the Sheriff’s Office. You have to wonder at people’s motivations. We get a complaint, we investigate that complaint. We get a report of misconduct, we try to correct it. I believe the Sheriff’s Office is the same. We want to get to the bottom of it, but we need a citizen’s full cooperation to do it.”

Brown said that after requesting the 911 calls, she was not pleased with the response.

“It’d been a few days and I was only asking for a police report number, and I’d given dates, times and names. In the reply to that, they apologized for the delay and said they’ve gathered the information and turned it over to Lt. Kim Martin [who oversees internal affairs at the Sheriff’s Office].”

Law-enforcement agencies have 10 days to get 911 calls, which are usually public record, to any citizen who requests them, and Hogan said that “we can’t just drop what we’re doing. There has to be a reasonable expectation here.”

Brown said she’s spoken to an attorney and then to Lt. Martin, who relayed the deputy’s version of events.

“He told me that the officer had called in to have someone pull me over for civic disturbance,” Brown said. “I told him this wasn’t going well and, in the future, I’d like him to talk to my attorney. He said that was my decision but said that I should keep in mind that at any time those civic-disturbance charges could be brought against me,” and added that Martin had said that that wasn’t a threat, just “friendly advice.”

But such a move is unlikely, and Smart noted that “I don’t see her facing any charges from this.”

When asked if Brown has been cooperative, he said, “as far as I know. Lt. Martin has spoken with her over the phone.”

“I can tell you this much, I do not trust the police now,” Brown said, adding that she’s considering a possible lawsuit against the APD for what she sees as dereliction of duty.

“This has been overwhelming,” she said. “I don’t want money. But some seriously bad, wrong things are happening and no one seems to want to admit it.”

About David Forbes

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

I live at the Meadows Apts. which of course has nothing to do with this subjet. What Im getting at is there is alot of traffic in and out here, like the Asheville Mall, all kinds of vehicles come through here, day and night. I have ADT in my apt because I dont trust anyone at in this complex, just this past Monday we had three Buncombe deputies come through her and I have no idea what they were here for. I pretty much pay attention to whos around me, and if I need to call the police I will do it. Random roadblocks would be ideal before entering this complex, you might be surprised what you find. The road rage is getting completely out of control let alone the cell phone useage as well, causing alot of accidents!!!

That little Leicester race to turn right on Leicester highway is a devils corner of insane rednecks. Note to all DO NOT honk at crazy white trash in Leicester unless your packing heat, and prepared to use it. I have lots of theories why this stuff happens and how to prevent it but your probably not taken by it.

“the officers declined to press charges or file an incident report “because they both called on each other, we were not there to witness it. We verified she was safe and advised her to take it up with the deputy’s employer. If she had a problem with his actions, his demeanor, that’s a matter for their professional standards to deal with.”

Does Hogan understand the stupidity of his statement?

Does the APD ever find that 2 folks in a situation have the same story?

Does the APD NEVER press charges in an incident they did not witness?

Hogan also acts as if the ENTIRE department would be involved in the release of the 911 tapes by stating the “we don’t just drop what we are doing.”

This screams of a cover up.

Why wasn’t Deputy Dog given a breathalyzer?

Why was an off-duty Narcotics officer given private information (the address in Clyde), when that information HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HIS JOB! and when he had been accused of communicating threats?

Who cares what his “record is” – the fact that he has had “no complaints” doesn’t prove that the alleged incident didn’t occur.

What about Ms. Browns’ rights as a citizen? Hogan acts like she is somehow to blame for the incident: especially when he questions her motives because she has gone to the “media” – she did so because she was getting the run-around from officials such as Hogan himself.

“the officers declined to press charges or file an incident report “because they both called on each other, we were not there to witness it. We verified she was safe and advised her to take it up with the deputy’s employer. If she had a problem with his actions, his demeanor, that’s a matter for their professional standards to deal with.”

Does Hogan understand the stupidity of his statement?

Does the APD ever find that 2 folks in a situation have the same story?

Does the APD NEVER press charges in an incident they did not witness?

Hogan also acts as if the ENTIRE department would be involved in the release of the 911 tapes by stating the “we don’t just drop what we are doing.”

This screams of a cover up.

Why wasn’t Deputy Dog given a breathalyzer?

Why was an off-duty Narcotics officer given private information (the address in Clyde), when that information HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HIS JOB! and when he had been accused of communicating threats?

Who cares what his “record is” – the fact that he has had “no complaints” doesn’t prove that the alleged incident didn’t occur.

What about Ms. Browns’ rights as a citizen? Hogan acts like she is somehow to blame for the incident: especially when he questions her motives because she has gone to the “media” – she did so because she was getting the run-around from officials such as Hogan himself.

2) He goes too far by insinuating he will “pay her a visit” this, in my opinion is a DIRECT THREAT that should have been reported by the second 911 staff member. (But since he is a cop, I guess that explains that).

3) If the deputy is as “hot headed” as the 911 tapes suggest – questions should be asked regarding his ability to carry out his job when on duty carrying a loaded weapon!!!!!

4) His record should have nothing to do with this. He was off duty (which makes him a regular citizen).

The most telling statements: “The first officer on the scene asked if I realized I had just called in on a cop…”

and

“She wants to act all stupid, so I want to show her how stupid she is when she finds out who I am.”

also:

The first 911 operator lacked professionalism.

People should not be afraid of their police force, and any abuse of authority by officers, or attempts to cover-up abuse, should be taken with the utmost seriousness. It is crap like this that give good cops bad names and adds to overall distrust of the police. Community policing should not be about flaunting of authority, but rather focused on serving and protecting the public. There need to be a wholesale change in attitude on this.

“It is crap like this that give good cops bad names and adds to overall distrust of the police. Community policing should not be about flaunting of authority, but rather focused on serving and protecting the public.”

You are absolutely correct. Unfortunately, this kind of thing is happening with greater frequency all over the country. A perusal of news sites will reveal that abusive or inappropriate treatment by law enforcement personnel is no longer an isolated aberration (as it tended to be in times past), but is proliferating (including taser-happy cops).

I was driving home beginning of this week and used my horn to tell someone they were trying to shift lanes into me. They proceed to get behind me and follow me through several green lights until I get to a red, then get out of their car and start threatening me. I was going the speed limit, doing nothing wrong. I carry mace now and am not afraid to use it.

If that deputy was approaching my vehicle like that, he’d have found himself with a face full of pepper spray. Police use lights to pull someone over and identify themselves when approaching a vehicle for a REASON. He did none of these, so she had no indication it wasn’t some nutjob bent on havoc. IMHO, that puts his behaviour in the same category: and he said SHE was road raging??

I learned a while ago not to trust law enforcement. I keep hoping to find a reason to start again, but so far no dice.

First: YRS 4812 — certainly someone can run these plates and find out who this guy is. It’s called reporting. You don’t have to wait for Duncan to spoon feed it to you! Investigate, report, and run a background check on this guy. Methinks there might be some felonies in homeboy’s closet.

That first 911 dispatcher was completely unhelpful. “Go to a very public place with a lot of people so they can see what happens” “I’m in a parking lot with a lot of people so they can all watch me get killed” Also HE cut HER off and mister dispatcher turned that around. Thank god they had his supervisor get on the phone, tell her to stay in her car, and DISPATCH a police car to her (should have done this immediately). I wonder if he would be so indifferent if that were his sister or mother in that car… hmmm…. Also 19-23 *is* Patton Avenue… can we get some people who know the major streets in this town??

“She wants to act so stupid so I want to show her how stupid she is when she finds out who I am… I’ll pay her a visit”

Is this the same Sheriff’s department that was headed by Medford? Might be time to do a little house cleaning and get rid of the rats.

This is not the way a law enforcement officer should act. Even is she flipped him off that is not a capital offense, rednecks need to chill on that s***. Following someone for miles and miles, driving in a threatening and reckless manner… pretty sure this is a crime.

Just the good old boy network in action. Don’t expect a huge influx of jobs if certain members of the police force acts like gangsters and thugs… no one wants to live in the “old south”.

The Buncombe County Sheriff runs a tight ship. He will no doubt make sure this rogue cop is disciplined for this outrageous act. I mean, bullying a woman?

“Insane rednecks”? There is no need to slur local people here. After all, we have kept this part of the country sweet enough that people like you have wanted to move here from up north. Besides, the few rude drivers around here tend to be northern big city transplants. Locals are polite drivers, as a rule.

So, between this and the deputy Scarborough incident, I’m curious, is there ANY REASON why people should have even an OUNCE OF TRUST for the APD or The Buncombe County Sherrif’s Dept?

Gracious, I will get a warm, fuzzy feeling when these bullies and thugs see actual time for the crimes they commit in broad daylight. Then MAYBE there will be a reason for people to trust the police.

Oh, and the dispatcher who answered her call initially should be fired. So should the dispatcher who let the officer’s comment about ‘visiting her house’ go with a laugh. Why is there not an organization who actually WATCHED these organized criminals.

So, between this and the deputy Scarborough incident, I’m curious, is there ANY REASON why people should have even an OUNCE OF TRUST for the APD or The Buncombe County Sherrif’s Dept?

Gracious, I will get a warm, fuzzy feeling when these bullies and thugs see actual time for the crimes they commit in broad daylight. Then MAYBE there will be a reason for people to trust the police.

Oh, and the dispatcher who answered her call initially should be fired. So should the dispatcher who let the officer’s comment about ‘visiting her house’ go with a laugh. Why is there not an organization who actually WATCHED these organized criminals.

The officer made it obvious he was lying when he talked about someone having road rage directed toward him, and then later said he didn’t do anything wrong.
If he had done nothing wrong… Why would they feel road rage toward him? Then it would be a person just acting crazy or eratic. He didn’t say that… ergo he was lying.
We need to see police get punished for this kind of psychotic and anti-social behavior. Ironically if an officer is fired they don’t have to tell why he was let go so he can just transfer somewhere else…

Dionysis: Nope. It would be self defense. Some stranger banging on my window while I’m stopped, or trying to open the door to my car while I’m in it? If they open the door, that’s breaking and entering. If they reach into the car through a window, the same.
You can get pepper spray with UV dye to help identify assailants later, or to assist proving self defense as it would tag the person and the area around where it was sprayed.

Truly disgraceful behavior on the part of the officer. Unbelievable that he would think the things he was saying on his 911 call were reasonable.

That 911 operator was awful too. There’s a woman afraid for her safety and he tries to remember the directions to a police station? I thought the benefit of having a 911 system was so that you could call when in trouble and the police would be dispatched to you. Don’t they train the 911 operators?

I agree that as a factual matter it would be; I just doubt if charges against anyone in law enforcement would actually proceed forward without overwhelming evidence (such as a video of the behavior). If it could be covered up at all, chances are it would.

It’s amazing to me that all of you are crucifying one person & immediately siding w/ another, based on everything that you’ve been spoon fed by the MEDIA!

I have no doubt there’s some truth to the story, but i also have no doubt that each of you have complained about how twisted the media is @ some point your life. Right now, this is still “he said, she said.”

He can’t be immediately fired, there are procedures that must be followed, an investigation must be done. His name/info can’t be released, it’s danger to him (being undercover) & his entire family, who are innocents in this. And don’t say “well, they released Julie Brown’s name..” The media did that! So say something to them.

And yes, the 911 calls do sound bad, i agree, Julie Brown does sound frightened. However, no one knows what she actually did vs. what he actually did. What i wanna know is, wasn’t there anyone else @ that intersection that day? Did no one else NOT see someone get out of their car & allegedly “beat” on someone’s window & try to pull them out of their car? If so, wouldn’t they have called it in too?

Also, if this happened on July 8th or 9th, why is Julie Brown just now coming forward w/ it? Why is she just NOW so scared? If the undercover deputy was going to go to her house (& this is what frightens her so much) wouldn’t he have done so already? **Just some things to think about.

Everyone in this town loves to do this, it’s disgusting. Yes, hotheaded cops/people in general are sickening, but let those who have all the info deal w/ it..they dont need our input, obviously..no one asked for it!!
Besides, all you who are complaining about Van..how many of you voted for him bc you were sick of Medford?

*And go ahead & tell me I’m wrong, about any of it…everyone knows we have a biased media all over the country & everyone knows people love to gossip & try to talk crap about others. It’s what humans do. You’re just stoking the fire.

Sounds like Lt. Martin with the sherfs is indeed threatening Ms. Brown. And no, they won’t do anything to this officer. I have trouble listening to these tapes. I also have some trouble with the police stonewalling. This officer was in direct violation of several laws and IF HE WERE AN ORDINARY CITIZEN, HE WOULD BE IN JAIL RIGHT NOW!!!
This is a case of Bill Hogan allowing the steroid deputies free run in Asheville.
Hey ossifer, SO WHAT IF SHE WAS CALLING SOMETHING IN ON A FELLOW OFFICER? She is a citizen and you have sworn to protect and serve HER, NOT some fellow rogue officer!
I used to respect cops, and taught my daughter to respect them, but stuff like this makes me think I may have taught her wrong.
Van Duncan, clean up your department. Chief Hogan, tell your officers who they are supposed to protect. And quit screwing around and trying to stonewall. Van, unless the whole story comes out and you deal with it, I will not vote for you again. Chief, you don’t have to worry about an election, so enforce the law!

the officers behavior is …unexcusable,,,he should have never touched her car,,,same thing as assault to me….and attempted breaking and entering,,,i believe he is lucky he wasnt shot dead in the street..good narcotic officer or not…sheriff van duncan…
you cant allow this type of behavior…from off-duty officers,,,and the fact that he was attempting to use his position to later strong-arm her into some sort of cowarying compliance,,this fellow was dead wrong…i was not there either,,,however, i believe it happened just as the woman described..
we are all aware that narcotic officers under-cover,are all pumped up for caving in doors and subduing alledged bad guys/gals…maybe the stress of his position cant be controlled when not on duty..is this the same guy that kicked in the upside down flag flyers door,,or perhaps the other one who wasted a dog on a chain,,or maybe one that wrecked his patrol car..
maybe its time for the department to run physco evaluations on all its officers,,
its my opinion only that the officer be reminded that we are presumed innocent until trial also..and also ,when he is off-duty ..he has laws rules and regulations to obey just like the rest of us
we dont want to lose good officers …or good citizens

This officer should be seriously reprimanded! Even if his story were true (which I doubt), he clearly is not a person in control of his temper (or ego). If a civilian had behaved the way he did, they’d be telling it to the judge. And what kind of judgement was he exercising to get out of his car, leaving his “family members” and approaching someone that he believes is in a fit of “road rage”. The driver he approached could be been deranged with a gun. There are certainly good cops out there. This guy needs to be doing something else for a living.

This is a very disturbing story. This is way bigger than a possible road rage incident. I think we need a Federal investigation. Call in some FBI agents from out west (so they don’t have any local or state ties) and see what they turn up. Police officers, under cover or not, should never act the way the officer in the story acted. They should not follow (undercover/offduty) or track down other motorists at home. This is the job of uniformed officers.

APD could have taken prints there is no law saying they can’t and because it involves a state certified law enforcement officer it would have been prudent for APD to do a simple exercise in public relations. But as always APD isn’t interested in working on building a better community just saving face and protecting their own liability.

the reason people are judging this “he said/she said” is because there is still clear evidence and some obvious truths we can ascertain between their stories – the 911 calls, his comments about going to her house, that he did approach her car – these things we know.

and frankly, we don’t need to know much more to judge that this man should not be in charge of public safety. if you can’t control your temper, you should not be given a gun and responsibility over your fellow man.

and Hogan’s comments are absurd, as always. he’s admitted that his first job is to protect his officers (at the unca forum) – GET RID OF HOGAN! Find an honest officer who will real priorities – the TRUTH & PUBLIC SAFETY!

Like most cases of police misconduct in this area, this will ultimately be swept under the table and no action taken to make sure that an officer that was a mile out of line doesn’t go all Dirty Harry on some other unsuspecting citizen. I am a retired member of the Emergency Services community and I am appalled by the behavior of both the officer and the 911 dispatcher. The Sheriff promised to clean up his department….here is a good first step.

““Insane rednecks”? There is no need to slur local people here. After all, we have kept this part of the country sweet enough that people like you have wanted to move here from up north. Besides, the few rude drivers around here tend to be northern big city transplants. Locals are polite drivers, as a rule.”

Mike – lay off ok, just becuase people come from up North doesn’t mean they are unable to be polite in society and in saying that you have just done what you accused them of. And in my experience most of the “insane drivers” are transplants from Florida :)

Deja Vu. I am generally one of the last to defend the police, and am not now unless the guy was telling the truth, but I had a woman tailgating me once, actually hit my bumper when we stopped at a light, and just flipped her the bird since my tapping on the brakes was not enough to keep her off my bumper and I was late for work. She keeps tailgating me, so I stop in the road and ask here if she is crazy or what and I would call the police if she keep it up. So SHE calls the police and tells them that I was banging on her window and door trying to get into her car when I had not touched it and threatened her only with calling the police. Same woman? NEVER tell a woman you will call the police as it give them the idea and the police almost ALWAYS believe the woman and they know that. It happened another time even much worse with my ex wife when she called after I threatened her with calling the police and she badly lied and got me into a LOT of trouble for something I never did…

Mushroomhunter–Thanks for bringing some sexism into the equation, the fascism alone wasnt doin it for you?

It is a shame that this happened but I cant believe anyone is suprised after the “flag incident” in West Asheville. Face it, the cops arent here to watch out for you here unless you have a metric ass-ton of cash or are visiting here from somewhere else.

I knew someone in college that went on to the APD, he was known on campus for always having coke and porn and his main reasoning for joining was he wanted to carry a gun…I pray that he never pulls me for anything.

I’m uneasy about the blanket indictment of the entire APD. Broad accusations insure that specific instances such as the one highlighted in this article get lost in the noise.

I have sought help from law enforcement in my 25 years here. The results have been a mixed bag of excellent, sub-standard, and downright bad. I can tell you that the bad encounters were largely a result of an officer who was either incompetent or didn’t have the temperment for the job. These people need to be better trained and supervised or discharged.

[b]I can tell you that the bad encounters were largely a result of an officer who was either incompetent or didn’t have the temperment for the job.[/b]

I can assure you the “good” cops who keep their mouths shut when they see their fellow officers acting in such a way are equally to blame. When was the last time you saw a cop, on record, criticize the actions of even the worst examples of police brutality and callousness?

As I recall, Deputy Scarborough never experienced any real discipline for clearing violating the civil rights of the Kuhns last year.

Really, what good is a Police and Sherrif’s dept. when they cant even keep the bad guys out of uniform?

Maybe they should protect and serve those who pay their salaries instead of using the position as an avenue to be above the law. Because they aren’t. I hate the hypocrisy/double-standards more than anything else. If there are a lot of respectable APD cops, then there are enough bad ones to make the whole force look crooked.

our options as citizens are to vote in a city council with a spine, or to live in fear of corrupt officials.

remember all those people who used to say that there simply couldn’t be a corrupt sheriff’s office in buncombe county?

if you think Hogan really has your best interest as citizens in his heart, I bet you to re-visit his comments at the big UNCA forum about a year and a half ago. he said 2 very interesting things that night…

1) that his first job is to stand up for his men. this implies that he cares more about that than he does about the truth or our safety.

2) after being presented with evidence that a man had been burned with a taser that had its safeties removed, he blithely said it was impossible because tasers have safeties. this implies either a cover-up, or that he didn’t care enough to actually listen to the story. he certainly didn’t care enough to allow a reply.

please, if anyone has a copy of the video of that night, i would really, really love to post that conversation to youtube. and then show up to city council and force them to re-examine how seriously Hogan considers complaints against his own men.

but our society gives police a free pass as much as it can. look how nobody cares that the Cambridge officer refused to give his name and badge number to Dr. Gates, and then falsified his police report afterwards. Nope, only issue there is race, and he just couldn’t possibly have any racist thoughts, right?

Of course, only a racist would assume that every black man is going to yell “your mommma” statements. And then to go on TV and use these obviously false statements as justification -> he’s obviously at least a closet racist. But America won’t accept that possibility.

Our police officers have perfect intentions, unless we can absolutely PROVE otherwise. Because they’re not going to catch each other. They don’t even try.

I can’t believe anyone would be shocked or even mildly surprised at this officer’s conduct. What’s more, no one should be shocked at it’s inevitable outcome.
In any authoritarian regime, and don’t fool yourselves this is an authoritarian regime, the police act as a praetorian guard ensuring the stability of the status quo and are therefore completely and utterly unaccountable to the citizenry.
Sheriff Duncan is nothing more than Bull Conner and will protect his officers at all cost as he has done successfully in the past.
The media also does it’s job by protecting the identity of the Stasi like secret police.
The sad thing is that this and many other subjects that have an actual effect on our lives and safety are not even allowed to be discussed.

I don’t know, Carlos. You may want to go to another country to see a truly authoritarian regime in action (one in which just by writing your statement you would be risking your life or your family’s life). Not saying that this wasn’t an abuse or it is absurd that the local news media are all kowtowing to the sheriff’s wishes in keeping this man’s identity a secret… but when you have a legitimate complaint (someone is breaking into your home, or someone’s dog is barking all night) law enforcement will take care of it professionally and promptly. In many other countries police officers are poorly paid and bribery is a fact of life. You elect the sheriff here so therefore he is ultimately accountable to the citizenry in one way or another (in an authoritarian regime this would not be the case).

“Stasi-like secret police.”? You might want to read a few books on the subject before you start accusing an organization of this. The Stasi would make people disappear for as much as listening to a Western European radio broadcast (neighbors would turn in neighbors). Yes there is a good old boy network but if they were anything like the Stasi, you probably wouldn’t be around next week… at least in one piece.

Mister Blister, That’s the highest praise we can offer our local law enforcement, unfortunately: “They’re not the Stasi. “They’re not Myanmar.” If the best thing the we can say about local government is that’s not a 3rd World dictatorship or East Germany circa 1965, there is something seriously wrong in the WNC, and America in general.

This same type of incident has happened to me twice. A car is driving erratically…stops in the middle of the lane and you have to come to a screeching halt behind him. He lets you pass and then follows you in his car. When you stop he gets out of his car and bangs on your driver window calling you all kinds of profanities. He then tries to open your door and yank you out.
Ladies, look your doors when you drive. We may have a serial “Road Rager” out there.
My name really is Julie B. But, now not Julie Brown.
Julie if you read this…I’d really like to talk with you to see if our descriptions of this dude match.